Merle Liban was born on March 20, 1922. During World War II, Merle was a member of the 405th Bombardment Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Corps, and served in the Pacific Theater.
After the War, Merle joined the West Allis Police Department, which is the largest suburb of the City of Milwaukee, had a population of/about 60,000 persons, and stretched from 52nd Street to the Milwaukee County Border at 124th Street.
West Allis was named after the “Allis Manufacturing Company” which later manufactured Allis Chalmers Tractors. There was an “East Allis” manufacturing facility on the shore of Lake Michigan, and the “West Allis” facility, about 4 ½ miles inland. The “West Allis” Plant became the primary factory for Allis Chalmers Tractors, and was also home to a Top Secret project in World War II, as the casing for the Atomic Bomb that was dropped at Hiroshima was made there.
Merle started as a “Patrol Officer, but by the 1950's he obtained an assignment in the Vice Unit of the Department. The Allis Chalmers Tractor Plant covered 160 acres of the City, had 21 miles of Railroad Track within it, and had 15,000 workers. While many of the workers had permanent homes in the Milwaukee area, there were also rows of hotels, boarding houses, and rental properties running from 52nd Street to 84th Street. And to accommodate the social needs of the workers, there was a string of taverns and strip-clubs running from 56th street to 70th Street & beyond.
In the 1950's and 1960's, the West Allis Police Vice Unit focused primarily on the gambling, prostitution, narcotics, and bunco schemes that would follow the tavern night-life of the factory workers. One of the arrests that Merle Liban made was of Francis Conrad Stelloh (more commonly: Frank Stelloh).
Stelloh was named in numerous briefings to Local & Federal Law Enforcement Agencies as being member of the Milwaukee Mafia, and had previously been arrested and convicted of Armed Robbery. Stelloh had been confined at the Wisconsin State Prison at Waupun, and there is a record of his escape with Frank Blacka on Page 1 of the January 19, 1945 edition of the Rhinelander Daily News.
On February 4, 1960, Merle Liban and other officers of the West Allis Police Department arrested Frank Stelloh on the charge of “Fornication”, in violation of Wisconsin ss. 944.15. Stelloh was convicted of the charge. There was a civil trial on June 28th, 1962 in which Frank Stelloh attempted to sue Merle Liban and other Milwaukee Police Department and West Allis Police Officers for $105,000.00. The suit failed.
Frank Stelloh appealed his criminal conviction to the Wisconsin State Supreme Court, and in the case entitled:
10/29/63 FRANCIS CONRAD STELLOH v. MERLE J. LIBAN
October 29, 1963
FRANCIS CONRAD STELLOH, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
v.
MERLE J. LIBAN, HENRY A. HUC, ELMER G. PFEIFER, JOHN SWEENEY, RICHARD T. POLSEN, JAMES J. BEHRENDT, CITY OF MILWAUKEE, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, AND CITY OF WEST ALLIS, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, DEFENDANTS-RESPONDENTS
The Supreme Court ruled against Frank Stelloh, and upheld the Arrest & Conviction.
Merle Liban was later promoted to Lieutenant, and then to Captain. He was the Captain of the West Allis Police Department Pistol Team, and retired in the late 1980's as the Senior Patrol Captain of the Department.
Merle died in West Allis, Wisconsin on March 4, 1995.
After the War, Merle joined the West Allis Police Department, which is the largest suburb of the City of Milwaukee, had a population of/about 60,000 persons, and stretched from 52nd Street to the Milwaukee County Border at 124th Street.
West Allis was named after the “Allis Manufacturing Company” which later manufactured Allis Chalmers Tractors. There was an “East Allis” manufacturing facility on the shore of Lake Michigan, and the “West Allis” facility, about 4 ½ miles inland. The “West Allis” Plant became the primary factory for Allis Chalmers Tractors, and was also home to a Top Secret project in World War II, as the casing for the Atomic Bomb that was dropped at Hiroshima was made there.
Merle started as a “Patrol Officer, but by the 1950's he obtained an assignment in the Vice Unit of the Department. The Allis Chalmers Tractor Plant covered 160 acres of the City, had 21 miles of Railroad Track within it, and had 15,000 workers. While many of the workers had permanent homes in the Milwaukee area, there were also rows of hotels, boarding houses, and rental properties running from 52nd Street to 84th Street. And to accommodate the social needs of the workers, there was a string of taverns and strip-clubs running from 56th street to 70th Street & beyond.
In the 1950's and 1960's, the West Allis Police Vice Unit focused primarily on the gambling, prostitution, narcotics, and bunco schemes that would follow the tavern night-life of the factory workers. One of the arrests that Merle Liban made was of Francis Conrad Stelloh (more commonly: Frank Stelloh).
Stelloh was named in numerous briefings to Local & Federal Law Enforcement Agencies as being member of the Milwaukee Mafia, and had previously been arrested and convicted of Armed Robbery. Stelloh had been confined at the Wisconsin State Prison at Waupun, and there is a record of his escape with Frank Blacka on Page 1 of the January 19, 1945 edition of the Rhinelander Daily News.
On February 4, 1960, Merle Liban and other officers of the West Allis Police Department arrested Frank Stelloh on the charge of “Fornication”, in violation of Wisconsin ss. 944.15. Stelloh was convicted of the charge. There was a civil trial on June 28th, 1962 in which Frank Stelloh attempted to sue Merle Liban and other Milwaukee Police Department and West Allis Police Officers for $105,000.00. The suit failed.
Frank Stelloh appealed his criminal conviction to the Wisconsin State Supreme Court, and in the case entitled:
10/29/63 FRANCIS CONRAD STELLOH v. MERLE J. LIBAN
October 29, 1963
FRANCIS CONRAD STELLOH, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
v.
MERLE J. LIBAN, HENRY A. HUC, ELMER G. PFEIFER, JOHN SWEENEY, RICHARD T. POLSEN, JAMES J. BEHRENDT, CITY OF MILWAUKEE, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, AND CITY OF WEST ALLIS, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, DEFENDANTS-RESPONDENTS
The Supreme Court ruled against Frank Stelloh, and upheld the Arrest & Conviction.
Merle Liban was later promoted to Lieutenant, and then to Captain. He was the Captain of the West Allis Police Department Pistol Team, and retired in the late 1980's as the Senior Patrol Captain of the Department.
Merle died in West Allis, Wisconsin on March 4, 1995.
